With bushfires and floods continuing to threaten the land and our communities, Ludo McFerran’s story is testimony to her hard work and dedication to conservation.
Nestled at the end of Benny Gowings Road, where the Murrah River winds through the south of Bermagui lies a true 100-acre wood, or rather a 40-hectare sanctuary of natural beauty.
The river surrounds the block on both sides and is lined with huge river oak, river peppermint and bangalay trees and the occasional maiden’s gum. The gullies are full of ferns and cabbage trees and the hills are blanketed with monkey gum, iron bark, coast grey box and stringy bark.
It’s a block Ludo bought back in in 1989, but a history of human intervention and neglect left Ludo with her fair share of challenges.
“About half the block was river flats and grazed slopes, the rest was forest, and between the block and Biamanga Mountain to the west is the Murrah Flora Reserve,” Ludo said.
Features such as the ironbark cottage, cleared slopes and cleared river flats are evidence of the lasting impact of European settlers and Chinese gold prospectors’ activities during the end of the 19th Century until the 1950s.
“The clearing and the effects of bushfires led to the flooding patterns that still dominate the Murrah River,” Ludo said.
Faced with the challenges of flood damage and weeds, Ludo set about tree planting, fencing off the river, and initially reducing the blackberries to control the weeds.
“Over the years the floods bring down new weeds like hemlock, fireweed, stinking roger, cape ivy, moth vine and wild tobacco,” she said.
“It seems that you are just on top of one when another one springs back up behind you. But it’s a marvel to see the bush repairing itself, with brush kurrajongs and pencil cedars springing up.”
“Recently I’ve seen gang gang cockatoos back in the area, with a flock of over forty spending the summer gorging themselves.”
The forest, a symbol of nature’s resilience and Ludo’s commitment to its restoration, is now permanently protected under an in-perpetuity conservation agreement with the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust.
“Luckily the block avoided being burned in the fires of 2020 and the Coolagolite fire in October 2023,” Ludo said.
“But the future threats and my age made me think about long term protection, so I applied for a conservation agreement.”
Ludo’s conservation agreement was placed on her property’s title late last year, and driven by her desire to protect the land for future generations, she is looking to continue her work in controlling weeds with the ongoing support of the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust.
Two Aboriginal sites on the property also serve as a reminder of the land’s Aboriginal heritage and the duty we have, to ensure it is cared for into the future.
“In the house yard are two kurrajong trees, probably planted by the first Australians as they travelled between the sacred sites on Biamanga and the coast.”
“I hope to also protect those trees with a heritage order. But they remind me that this was Aboriginal land which we have profoundly damaged.”
“We have a duty to try and repair and to care for this land into the future beyond ourselves.”
Tree species listed in our story
- Iron bark (Eucalyptus paniculata)
- Maiden’s gum (Eucalyptus globulus subsp. maidenii)
- Monkey gum (Eucalyptus cypellocarpa)
- Pencil cedars (Polyscias murrayi)
- River oak (Casuarina cunninghamiana)
- River peppermint (Eucalyptus elata)
- Stringy bark (Eucalyptus globoidea)